1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a heat exchanger intended for use in a motor vehicle radiator and which utilizes a one piece aluminum tank within which a transmission oil cooler is positioned.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various heat exchangers exist in the art to control the temperature of oil as the oil circulates within the transmission of a motor vehicle. Such devices typically include a header tank connected to a radiator core. A transmission oil cooler is an auxiliary heat exchanger that is typically positioned within a chamber located within the header tank. Placing the oil cooler inside the chamber allows coolant to pass from core into the chamber and over the exterior of the oil cooler, which in turn decreases the temperature of oil as it passes through the oil cooler before the oil is cycled back through the transmission.
Aluminum heat exchangers typically consist of one or more manifolds, or tanks, formed from glass reinforced nylon plastic. Such tanks are connected to a core subassembly formed from aluminum. The plastic tanks are connected to the aluminum core subassembly by gasket seals, which are applied using a mechanical crimping operation. One of the tanks contains the transmission oil cooler, which is usually fastened to an interior sidewall of the tank using conventional nuts and gasket seals.
In those radiators utilizing aluminum cores and heat exchangers which include plastic tanks, installing transmission oil coolers using conventional tools is not a problem because the interior volume of the tanks is large enough to comfortably receive the tooling required to position the oil cooler inside the tank before the nuts and seals are installed and tightened. However, in those radiators utilizing cores and tanks formed entirely from aluminum, the smaller tank area and other advantages gained by eliminating the area that would have otherwise been occupied by the crimped gasket seals are often overcome by the disadvantage of having less space within the interior of the tank for inserting conventional tooling to properly position the oil cooler before the cooler is secured into a final position.
Heat exchangers exist that incorporate specialized components to assist with properly positioning an oil cooler within a tank. However, rather than simplifying matters, the specialized components further complicate the multi-step process of installing the cooler within the tank. One such device, the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,586 (“Lardner”), utilizes H-shaped retaining members to restrain an oil cooler against movement within a tank. However, the retaining members must be separately installed after the oil cooler has been positioned in the tank. This renders the retaining members unsuitable for use in space-compromised, one piece aluminum tanks.
Although certain references specifically disclose one piece tanks incorporating oil coolers, see e.g., Japanese Publication Nos. 11248393 A and 11142074 A, the inventions disclosed therein fail to provide any type of simplified positioning guides or retainers formed in a one piece tank to aid in positioning an oil cooler therein. Thus, there remains an opportunity for a heat exchanger to be provided that utilizes a one-piece tank featuring integrally formed guides that permit an oil cooler to be positioned for final assembly within the tank without requiring the use of extraneous tools.